The compressor is not activating.
Hello, the compressor I use regularly won’t activate no matter what I do for the Side Chain. It keeps turning yellow and won’t work. This is the first time I’ve seen this issue, what is the reason? And how can I fix it? Thanks. The photo is below.
The compressor insert is shown in orange because you added it post-fader (below the green line). Is this the intended location?
Edit: Sorry, I thought you meant the insert slot rather than the side-chain button when talking about “turning yellow”. My bad.
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Hi,
your Dry/Mix knob is all dry - turn it to the right, please.
EDIT: This is not a conventional dry/wet knob - 0% dry is just fine and means it’s actually 100% wet = processed in a conventional sense. I haven’t used this compressor for quite a while so I forgot about it. The idea behind naming it dry/mix instead of dry/wet has been discussed and explained in this forum at some point. Sorry for the confusion and thanks @Johnny_Moneto for the hint 
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Not that this will contribute to find a solution but here’s the aforementioned discussion with regard to dry/wet vs dry/mix.
In this case dry refers to the unprocessed signal that you can dial into the mix (the processed signal) . Confusing? Yes…
Oh, yes, that thing with the Dry/Mix. First time I used it I noticed volume was extremely high turning it right and didn’t understand what was happening. I needed some research to find the answer.
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Are you sure the source channel for the sidecahin is not muted? You have quite a few muted channels there…
When the vocals come in, I want the piano to be compressed a bit, but the vocal channel isn’t even listed in the side chain list. This is a chain I use regularly, and today is the first time I’ve encountered something like this. I’ve restarted my computer numerous times, but to no avail. I can’t move it anywhere else because it took me three days to get to this point in the mix, and the track can’t stand even the slightest tweaking.
Cubase prevents people from creating a feedback loop. Whenever you can’t find a channel as a possible source for your side chain it is due to this protection.
Please make sure that the routing would not create such a feedback loop.
Another possible cause is that you can have a total of 64 send busses in Cubase Pro. If your project has reached that limit you cannot create an additional one.
This could be checked by removing a send bus (of course without saving the project).
Without the side chain present, the compressor will do nothing.
Are you thinking of this?
From the version comparison chart
I’ve wondered about what exactly that meant and thanks to your post, I got reminded and decided to try and find out.
I don’t think this chart is super clear of what is meant by “return channels” and there is nothing in the manual that clears it up either.
My conclusion is that they mean:
- You can have no more than 8 Sends on any single channel.
- You can create no more than 64 Effect/FX Tracks
Since a Group channel can receive a Send signal just as an FX channel can, the theoretical limit when utilizing both these track types is 320 unique Send receiving channels.
In my test I created 64 Effect Tracks and verified you can’t create any more.
I created 8 Audio Tracks, each with a Send routed to each of the Effect channels.
I created 8 Group Tracks and one more Audio Track and verified I could create sends to the Group channels.
So how does Side Chain routing play into this? I’m not sure, but it does not appear to be influenced by the 64 Effect Track limit. Perhaps there is no limit? I couldn’t be bothered to try and find one. I did create two more Audio Tracks. One with 8 copies of “Compressor” as Inserts and the other feeding the Insert side chains from 8 individual Sends. That worked fine.
@ayhanorhuntas Your description of the issue and screenshot are missing some vital information. Nevertheless, here are some things to look out for.
You have to create a side chain source from within your compressor plugin:
When adding a side chain source, a unique Send will be created on the source channel to the plugin. If your source channel doesn’t have any available free Send slots, it will not be listed as a side chain source since Cubase would not be able to create an additional Send on that channel.
One way to overcome the 8 Sends per track limitation is to utilize Direct Routing.
I don’t like to have my Send slots eaten up by side chain routing nor do I need those connections shown in my Sends Rack.
In my Project Template I have a number of Group tracks dedicated for side chain duty. Here’s an example showcasing two audio tracks using those side chain dedicated Groups:
Normally, utility Groups such as the two ~SC ones are hidden.
There’s another bonus with this setup. I can EQ the side chain signal separately. This can be crucial in taming how a compressor reacts. You could also experiment with adding other types of processing on the side chain signal by means of Insert Effects.
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